At the age of twenty-two he began to think of entering the ministry,
and wrote to his parents about it. He also commenced to regulate the
whole tone of his life. "I set apart," he writes, "an hour or two a
day for religious retirement; I communicated every week; I watched
against all sin, whether in word or deed. I began to aim at and pray
for inward holiness." In September, 1725, when he had just passed his
twenty-second year, he was ordained.
Thirteen years later John Wesley began that series of journeys to all
parts of the kingdom for the purpose of preaching the Gospel, which
continued for over half a century.
In that time it is said that he travelled 225,000 miles, and preached
more than 40,000 sermons--an average of more than two for every day of
the year.
As to the numbers who flocked to hear some of his addresses they can
best be realised by those who have attended an international football
match, when 20,000 persons are actually assembled in one field, or
at a review, when a like number of people are together. It seems
impossible to realise that one voice could reach such a multitude;
yet it is a fact that some of John Wesley's open-air congregations
consisted of over 20,000 persons.
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